The school calls the Secchia Center a “symbol of what can be accomplished through collaboration.”

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“Community is our focus, that’s what we’re about, and creating community impact remains our goal,” said Elizabeth Lawrence, assistant dean of capital and strategic planning for MSU. “We’re here not only because of the vision of our college to create that community impact, but also the extraordinary vision of the community leaders in Grand Rapids.”

“There was a sense of pride in it and a sense of ownership in it,” said Dick Temple, architect and senior project manager at URS Corp., the architect of record for the project. “It’s a university building, we have a university client, and, yet, there was a lot of interest from the community in it.”

The 180,000-square-foot building is situated in an ideal place for collaboration, said Jerry Kooiman, assistant dean of external relations for the College of Human Medicine. Its proximity to Spectrum and the VAI gives students, faculty and researchers plenty of opportunities for “networking and going back and forth.”

“The whole area is connected by walkways,” Kooiman said.

The building’s interior also focuses heavily on collaboration.

“The design of the building was purposefully set forth to create spaces for the community to gather,” Lawrence said.

The four-story atrium acts as a central hub, and Lawrence expects students to spend a lot of time there. Two separate study areas — one quiet and one not — replace the traditional library, Kooiman said. Additionally, informal spaces throughout the building were included to encourage unplanned collaboration.

These spaces were important because the building’s vertical layout is uncommon in higher education, and there’s no student union nearby to allow gathering between classes, Temple said.

Also reflected in the design is the college’s focus on problem-based learning, which it says it pioneered. Smaller rooms are set aside specificially for group learning, and even large lecture rooms were strategically designed for students to quickly break into small groups while still seated in rows.

Another focus of the Secchia Center’s design was sustainability.

“The building’s design concept is one that integrates a sustainable approach in all aspects,” Lawrence said.

MSU is applying for LEED Gold certification, she said. The majority of materials used came from within 500 miles of Grand Rapids, and 80 percent of waste was recycled. The building’s lighting is state-of-the-art, as well, Lawrence said, and can automatically adjust based on the amount of natual light in a room.

Integrating all these elements required much collaboration among MSU, URS, builder The Christman Co., and design architect Ellenzweig, a Massachusetts-based firm.

Although the team didn’t officially use an integrated project delivery approach, the project included the “best aspects of it,” Temple said.

“We didn’t have a label for it, but I think everything inherent in what we did embraced the best practices of that approach,” he said. “And I think it’s based on the fact that we built this in West Michigan, where that’s almost inherent in the culture of the designers, the CMs, and the subs. And Michigan State became the owner that embraced that approach.”

Bringing the builder, architect and owner together from the beginning adds the most value to the project, said Douglas Norton, project executive with Christman.

The collaboration existed not only among the owner, architect and construction manager, but also incorporated subcontractors, he said. More than 50 major subs and suppliers, plus many lower-tier subs and suppliers, worked on the project.

“For the most part, these were local firms, and I think they, too, felt an investment in the project,” Norton said. “I think it enabled them to put forth their best efforts and best people and best focus.”

In all, MSU estimates that 320,000 total construction hours went into the project.

“There were a lot of families fed in West Michigan because of Michigan State’s initiative to expand here in West Michigan,” Temple said.